About This Piece

Vintage Design

- Rare desk from Knoll International
- From first owner, bought in 1958 at Knoll International Stuttgart
- Overall with smaller traces of wear
- Chrome looks good with some patina
- Drawers completely intact
- Desk is clean and complete

This piece has an attribution mark such as a manufacturer’s label, a certificate of authenticity, or a production mark

Style

Vintage, Mid-Century, Design Classics

Detailed Condition

Very Good — This vintage item has no defects, but it may show slight traces of use.

Restoration and Damage Details

Light wear consistent with age and use, Partially restored, Surface has been polished, Table top restored a long time ago, Completely cleaned, Chrome plating polished

Product Code

UG-366185

Materials

Chrome Plating, Metal, Walnut

Color

Brown, silver

Width

115 cm 45.3 inch

Depth

48 cm 18.9 inch

Height

66 cm 26.0 inch

Duties Notice

Import duty is not included in the prices you see online. You may have to pay import duties upon receipt of your order.

* Please note that items made of Rosewood are subject to a special export process that may extend the delivery time an additional 2 to 4 weeks

Shipping & Delivery

Shipping Method

Front Door Delivery - 2 to 4 weeks

Ships from

Germany

Duties Notice

Import duty is not included in the prices you see online. You may have to pay import duties upon receipt of your order.

Returns

Returns accepted within 14 days of delivery, except for Made-to-order items

Delivery Options

Front Door Delivery:
(Included in Every Order)

A skilled driver will unload the item(s) from the delivery truck and bring it to your building’s doorstep. You will be responsible for further transport beyond that point. We recommend asking a family member or friend for an extra hand; alternatively, you may upgrade to In-Home Delivery (see below).

The delivery partner will email and/or call you at least one day in advance to arrange a delivery time.

A wooden crate may be used for intercontinental shipments for maximum protection.

A skilled driver or a team of two will bring your item(s) inside your home and place it in the immediate entryway. For unusually large or heavy items, we recommend asking a family member or friend for an extra hand, as we cannot send more than 2 drivers.

The delivery partner will email and/or call you one day in advance to arrange a delivery time.

A wooden crate may be used for intercontinental shipments for maximum protection.

Item will be left in its packaging after delivery.

A signature will be required upon delivery.

*Important Note

Please examine every order upon delivery. In the event that there are visible signs of damage or missing or incorrect pieces, please indicate the problem on the Delivery Note and contact us within 48 hours of delivery. A signed delivery receipt without notations of missing, damaged, or incorrect item(s) represents your acceptance of the complete order in perfect condition.

* Please note that items made of Rosewood are subject to a special export process that may extend the delivery time an additional 2 to 4 weeks

About the Designer

Florence Knoll Bassett

American architect-designer Florence Knoll Bassett (née Schust) was born in 1917 in Saginaw, Michigan. Orphaned as a child, she was educated at the Kingswood School for girls, part of the Cranbrook community of schools cofounded by Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen and Detroit publisher George Booth. Saarinen personally encouraged Florence to attend the Cranbrook Academy of Art, where she focused on architecture until 1939, leaving for periods to study at the Columbia University School of Architecture in New York and the Architectural Association in London. In 1940, she studied under Ludwig Mies van der Rohe at the Armour Institute (now the Illinois Institute of Technology) and worked for architects Marcel Breuer and Walter Gropius. The next year, she moved to New York and worked for the interior design firm Harrison & Abramovitz, through whom she met modern furniture manufacturer and retailer Hans Knoll (1914–55). Knoll recruited her as head of Knoll Planning Unit and, in 1946, she married him. That same year, the company changed its name to Knoll Associates.

At Knoll, she was an influential champion of established Bauhaus designers and architects as well as rising talents such as Harry Bertoia. As a designer and architect in her own right, she designed tables
, chairs
, sofas
, and storage solutions
and was a major proponent of ergonomics in interior space planning and the total integration of furniture, architecture, art, graphics, and textiles. In 1951, the company was renamed Knoll International and it expanded its business overseas. On the death of her husband Hans in 1955, she took over as company president. Three years later, she married banker Henry Hood Bassett. Knoll Bassett served as Director of Design at Knoll until her retirement in 1965. She was honored with a National Medal of Arts in 2002 and, in 2004, donated her design archive to the Smithsonian Archives of American Art in Washington, D.C.

About the Maker

Knoll Inc. / Knoll International

Hans Knoll was born in 1914 in Stuttgart, Germany, into the successful manufacturing family behind Walter Knoll & Co. Early-20th-century Germany was an epicenter of modernist design theory—most notably expressed in the products and practices of the Deutscher Werkbund association of artists, architects, designers, and industrialists, as well as the influential Bauhaus school—which advocated for design rooted in the principles of rationality, functionalism, and mass production. This milieu had a profound influence on Hans and inspired him to produce furniture for the new age. In 1937, after a stint in London, he moved to the United States and brought his modernist vision with him.

Florence Knoll (neé Schust) was born in Saginaw, Michigan in 1917 and from an early age exhibited a strong interest in architecture. After graduating from the Kingswood School for Girls in 1934, she moved across campus to the newly formed, Bauhaus-inspired Cranbrook Academy of Art to study architecture under recent émigré, Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen. There she befriended future design luminaries Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen. She went on to Columbia University’s School of Architecture to study town planning. In 1937, she apprenticed under former-Bauhaus professors Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and a few years later, enrolled at the Illinois Institute of Technology, where German architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe became a life-long mentor to her.

In 1938, Hans Knoll established The Hans G. Knoll Furniture Company as a furniture exporter in a small space on East 72nd Street in New York City. As the company quickly grew, it evolved into a manufacturing business. In 1941, he opened his first plant in a former dance hall in East Greenville, Pennsylvania and hired Danish designer Jens Risom, who eventually helped him develop the first, original Knoll furniture designs. That same year, Hans met Florence on an interior design project and, recognizing her exceptional taste and eye, hired her to bring in business with architects and interior designers and, later, to provide in-house planning and interior design expertise for a growing corporate clientele. In 1946, Hans and Florence married and renamed the company Knoll Associates. That same year, the Knolls formally established the Planning Unit, solidifying the company’s role in the design of interior spaces. In 1951, Knoll International was launched as the German and French arms of Knoll, producing Knoll designs for the European market. Sadly, Hans died in a tragic car crash in 1955, but Florence remained actively involved until she retired in 1965.

Knoll’s signature pieces include Breuer’s Wassily Chair (1925), Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona Chair (1929/1948), Harry Bertoia’sDiamond Chair (1952), Eero Saarinen’s Tulip Armchair (1957), as well as Florence‘s own furniture collection developed through the 1950s. Knoll’s impressive catalogue includes a who’s-who list of midcentury modern and contemporary design figures, including Jens Risom, Alexander Girard, George Nakashima, Isamu Noguchi, Richard Schultz, Warren Platner, Charles Pollock, Andrew Morrison & Bruce Hannah, Vignelli Associates, Richard Sapper, Maya Lin, Frank Gehry, and Rem Koolhaas. As of this writing, Knoll’s most recent collaboration is with David Adjaye, who designed the Washington Collection for Knoll and the Adjaye Collection for KnollTextiles. Today, the company is particularly focused on meeting the evolving needs of the 21st-century workplace.

In 2011, Knoll received the National Design Award for Corporate and Institutional Achievement from the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York. The award recognized Knoll’s legacy in American modern design and the company’s commitment to promoting the relationship between good design and quality of life. Knoll designs can be found in the permanent design collections of institutions around the world, including more than 30 acquired by New York’s Museum of Modern Art.

* All images courtesy Knoll, Inc. The David Adjaye Skeleton Chair was photographed by Joshua McHugh.